Floor element

ABSTRACT

A floor element for covering a base in which the bearing surface consists of a wood fibre board which is covered with a transparent lacquer coating at least on the bearing surface. This floor element can be laid together with other such floor elements on a flat base to form a floor, by joining the elements together by the side edges. The floor element is very durable due to the fact that it undergoes less delamination under the effects of moisture and is more scratch-resistant and hard-wearing. Furthermore, the floor element has a very attractive, natural-looking appearance.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a floor element for covering a substrate, whichfloor element comprises a wood fibre board. This floor element can belaid together with other such floor elements on a flat substrate to forma floor, by joining the elements together by the side edges.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Such a floor element is known from Dutch Patent ApplicationNL-A-9000342. This known floor element comprises a carrier board,consisting of two wood fibre boards, and a hard, hard-wearing andscratch-resistant plastic sheet thereon as the bearing surface. Bearingsurface in this case should be understood as the surface of the floorelement facing away from the substrate. The carrier board and plasticsheet are bonded together with adhesive. The floor elements can bejoined together to form a floor by providing them at the side edges withtongues and grooves which fit into each other. A floor made up of suchfloor elements, consisting of a carrier board and a plastic sheet, isknown as a laminated parquet floor.

A disadvantage of the known floor element is that when it is exposed tofluctuating temperature and air humidity, and in particular when it isin direct contact with moisture, the floor element can become warped,and the plastic sheet can become detached from the fibre board(delamination). As a result of this, bulges occur relatively quickly atthe side edges of the floor element in particular, which means that inuse uneven wear of the plastic layer occurs, which therefore means thatthe appearance of the floor becomes unattractive. Owing to theseeffects, the service life of a floor made from the known floor elementsis often undesirably limited. In practice, in order to lessen thisdisadvantage, people are therefore generally advised that when layingthe floor elements to form a floor they should apply an adhesive betweenthe tongues and the grooves of the adjacent floor elements. Thedisadvantage of this is that the floor elements cannot be removed againwithout damaging them, for example when moving house. Another majordisadvantage of the known floor elements is that a plastic sheet isartificial, i.e. unnatural, in appearance.

From FR-A 2 591 641 a floor element is known comprising a support onwhich a wooden fibre material is provided. The top of the wooden fibrematerial is covered with a lacquer layer.

From DE-A-3 243 623 a fibre mat is known which can be shaped by pressingand is hardened with a resin material.

The fibres of both the German and the French specification arerelatively non-dense and unsuitable to be used as floor element withoutany support.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to provide floor elements in which theabovementioned disadvantages are less apparent.

This object is achieved according to the invention through the fact thatthe floor element has a bearing surface consisting of a wood fibre boardwhich is covered with a transparent lacquer coating at least on saidbearing surface.

It has been found that the floor element according to the invention canreadily withstand exposure to fluctuating air humidity and temperature.It has also, surprisingly, been found that the floor element accordingto the invention very satisfactorily meets the high standards which areset for floors in practice without the use of a hard plastic sheet. Thisis particularly surprising because wood fibre boards per se have beenknown for a long time now and have already been in use for a fairly longtime as carrier boards in floor elements. A possible explanation for thegood properties of the floor element may be that, when applied to thewood fibre board of the bearing surface, the transparent lacquer,through its absorbent action, does not simply lie on the wood fibreboard, but can also penetrate there to a certain depth into the board. Areinforcement of the top layer of the wood fibre board and very goodadhesion of the lacquer coating to the wood fibre board are obtained asa result.

Due to the fact that the fibre structure of the wood fibre board remainsvisible through the transparent lacquer coating, the floor elementaccording to the invention has a very attractive natural appearancewhich to some extent resembles natural stone. Another major advantage ofthe invention is that the floor element is simpler to manufacture andconsequently also economically more attractive.

The floor element is preferably made entirely of wood fibre material. Inthis case it is possible, for example, to bond together two or more woodfibre boards, as the carrier board, and one wood fibre board, as thebearing surface, in which case tongues and grooves are formed at theside edges of the floor element through the fact that at least twoessentially identically shaped wood fibre boards are lying staggeredrelative to each other. The wood fibre boards in the carrier board andthat of the bearing surface can be different. For example, the woodfibre boards in the carrier board can be of a lower density and hardnessthan the wood fibre board of the bearing surface. In the most preferredembodiment the floor element consists of a single wood fibre board whichat the side edges is provided with milled-in tongue and groove, andwhich is covered with a lacquer coating at least on its top side. Theadvantage of this embodiment is that the risk of delamination is reducedeven further through the fact that the floor element is of anessentially homogeneous structure. A further advantage of thisembodiment is that it is simpler to manufacture.

The wood fibre board is covered wish a transparent lacquer coating atleast on the bearing surface. The transparent lacquer coating used canin principle be any type of transparent lacquer suitable for floorswhich is scratch-resistant and hard-wearing, and which iswater-repellent and dirt-repellent. Such lacquers are known to theperson skilled in the art. It has been found that good results can beachieved with the use of a lacquer which for hardening purposes has arelatively low viscosity when applied to the wood fibre board. A powdercoating can also be applied, instead of lacquers. Such a coating can beapplied in one layer in an environmentally friendly and efficient way,and produces a particularly hard-wearing coating. The attractive naturalappearance of the floor element is obtained through use of thetransparent lacquer coating in conjunction with the fibrous appearanceof the wood fibre board. It has also been found that a transparentlacquer coating in conjunction with a wood fibre board is much moresuitable for use in a floor element than a masking lacquer coating. Thebearing surface of the floor element according to the invention can becoloured with a pigment. A major advantage of the floor elementaccording to the invention relates to coloured floor elements. Owing tothe relatively great absorbency of the wood fibre board of the bearingsurface, when a pigment-containing liquid is applied thereto, saidsurface is impregnated and thus coloured over a relatively greatpenetration depth. This reduces the risk of the uncoloured base becomingvisible through wear of or damage to the lacquer coating. Any damage tothe lacquer coating and bearing surface can be repaired virtuallyinvisible, i.e. it can be repaired without colour difference by applyinga new transparent lacquer coating. The damaged place can even be lightlysanded down in this case without the uncoloured base becoming visible.The wood fibre board of the bearing surface can be coloured by treatingthe surface thereof first with, for example, a stain (for example.nitrocellulose stain) and then applying an uncoloured, transparentlacquer coating. The advantage of the method is that the wood fibreboard is coloured to a fairly great penetration depth, The wood fibreboard of the bearing surface can also be coloured in a single treatmentby using a coloured, transparent lacquer coating. It is most preferableto use a wood fibre board which is already coloured completely throughand through with a pigment.

The lacquer coating covers the wood fibre board of the bearing surfaceat least over the surface area of said bearing surface. Sufficientprotection against wear is obtained in this ways. Since in practice itis very difficult to join together the floor elements to form a floorwith such accuracy that no open seams occur between the floor elements,the tongues and grooves at the side edges of the floor element are alsopreferably provided with a lacquer coating. This minimizes thesensitivity to the action of moisture after joining together of thefloor elements to form a floor, even if the floor is brought into directcontact with water. It is most preferable for the floor element to beprovided with a lacquer coating on all sides. In this way it is possibleto use both sides of the tile, in other words the tile can be turnedover when it is worn or damaged.

A wood fibre beard of relatively high density is preferably used for thebearing surface in the floor element according to the invention. Thedensity of the wood fibre board is preferably at least 700 kg/m³. Suchboards have better mechanical properties, such as, for example, hardnessand strength, than boards of lower density, such as chipboard (density400-500 kg/m³). It is more preferable for the density to be at least 800kg/m³, and most preferable for it to be at least 900 kg/m³. Good resultscan be achieved if the wood fibre board has a hardness of at least 4000N. A high hardness means better resistance to the high pressure loadsoften occurring in practice (for example. from stiletto heels). Thehardness is determined according to Janka. It is more preferable for theJanka hardness to be higher than 5000 N. and most preferable for it tobe higher than 6000 N. Suitable types of wood fibre board are knownunder the name of medium-density fibre board (MDF) or high-density fibreboard (HDF). Special water-resistant MDF boards are particularlysuitable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An example of a tile according to the invention is shown in the drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The title depicted in the drawing consists of a rectangular piece of MDFwith a density of 800 kg/m³. This tile is indicated in its entiretyby 1. It is provided with a groove 2 and a tongue 3, in order to allowit to be joined to adjacent tiles.

As an example of the dimensions of the tile, a length and breadth of 59cm can be mentioned, while the thickness can be approximately 9-10 m.

Near the top side, the tile is provided with a bevel 4. If the tile 1 isalso provided with a bevel at the bottom side, both sides of it can beused.

The tile shown here is covered on both sides with a powder coating.

Although the invention is described above with reference to a preferredembodiment, it must be understood that numerous modifications can bemade thereto. For example, the tile can be of different dimensions andin other shapes.

These and further variants are considered to lie within the scope of theappended claims.

We claim:
 1. In a floor element for covering a base, the floor elementcomprised entirely of one or more wood fibre boards, each of said boardsbeing provided with milled-in tongues and grooves at the side edges, andbeing completely covered at its front and rear sides with an at leastpartially transparent lacquer coating, the improvement wherein all theside edges of said floor element are also completely covered with an atleast partially transparent lacquer coating, said fibre board having adensity of at least 700 kg/m³ and a hardness (according to Janka) of atleast 4000 N.
 2. Floor element according to claim 1, wherein the woodfibre board has a density of at least 800 kg/m³ and a hardness(according to Janka) of at least 5000 N.
 3. Floor element according toclaim 1, wherein the transparent lacquer coating comprises a powdercoating.